Teddy Bear Picnic
by Evil Cosmic Triplets
Summary: Stephanie and Michelle want to have a picnic. Joey obliges. Jesse comes home early. (Implied slash, but nothing explicit)


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and am making no profit, monetary or otherwise, through the writing of this.

**A/N:** Written for the cotton candy bingo square – picnic. K. Holtzman offered this fandom, and the pairing as a suggestion. I decided to give it a try. At the back of my mind, I was thinking of the episode in which Joey and Jesse are supposed to be giving Michelle a bath, except they end up in the tub together, singing, and Danny walks in on them. When he leaves, with Michelle, they are still in the tub, arms draped over each other's shoulders. Season 1, episode three: "The First Day of School." There are clips on YouTube. Jesse sings, "Love Me Tender," to Joey.

* * *

Joey hummed to himself while he vacuumed the living room. It wasn't a chore he minded doing. Truth be told, he kind of enjoyed it.

Sure, it was a little mind-numbing, and repetitive, and it made his lower back ache, but, he wouldn't trade it for the world.

Okay, maybe not the vacuuming itself, but his life with Danny and Jesse and the girls. He liked living with the Tanners – being a ready uncle for the girls, a helping hand to Danny, and a . . . nuisance . . . to Jesse.

"Uncle Joey!" Stephanie's voice cut over the rumbling of the vacuum, and Joey shut it off, turning his full attention toward the little girl.

Stephanie stood at the foot of the stairs; a teddy bear clutched in one arm, and a wicker picnic basket in the other. Michelle stood next to her. Both had a matching set of dimples, and Joey inwardly groaned, even as he outwardly smiled. He was a sucker for smiles.

Puppy dog eyes (unless they were Jesse's) had little sway over Joey, but those smiles, especially when in duplicate (or triplicate when DJ was added to the mix), were always his undoing. Joey knew, that whatever those two little girls wanted of him, he was helpless to resist it.

Joey locked the vacuum handle in place and rocked back on his heels. "What can I do you for, Stephanie?"

"We wanta haf a picnic un'ca Joey," Michelle said around the thumb in her mouth.

"Yes, with our teddy bears," Stephanie said, thrusting the bear she held in her arm forward. Michele drew a teddy bear out from behind her back and held it out before her.

"And you," Stephanie added.

"Girls, I'm kind of in the middle of vacuuming right now, can it wait?"

Even before he asked, Joey knew what their answer would be: bottom lips sticking out in a pout and a plea of, _But Uncle Joey, _would follow, and he would cave. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he'd soon be donning a frilly apron and serving a picnic lunch to the two little girls and their teddy bear companions. What could he do? He was a sucker for the Tanner girls.

"Aw, but Uncle Joey," Stephanie pleaded, and sure enough her bottom lip was thrust out and Michelle peered around her sister, her lips downturned, the thumb temporarily pulled from her mouth. It was a double-whammy pout, and Joey's heart melted a little, and his stomach twisted.

"Oh, alright, I guess vacuuming can wait," Joey affected Bullwinkle's voice and threw his hands up in the air.

"Yay!" Michelle shouted. She jumped off the last step and ran to Joey who caught her and twirled her around before depositing her on the floor.

Stephanie rushed toward him and Joey twirled her around, catching her when she toppled a little. A mini-tickle war ensued, and the three of them wound up on the floor in a fit of giggles. The wicker basket, with its accessories, and the teddy bears wound up strewn throughout the living room.

When the giggles died down, Joey and the girls picked up the fallen bears and the picnic basket, and laid a checkered blanket out on the floor. Stephanie presented him with the frilly, flowered apron, which Joey accepted, and put on with a sigh, and then he set about the task of preparing sandwiches, Stephanie got the chips and cookies out, and Michelle supervised.

"I want peanut butter an' jelly," Michelle said as Joey put the finishing touches on a tuna sandwich. "Plwease." She clasped her hands up close to her chin and attempted to bat her eyelashes – no doubt something she'd seen Stephanie or DJ do.

Joey tapped her on nose. "Sure thing, pumpkin."

Stephanie handed Joey the jar of grape jelly, and Michelle struggled to climb the barstool at the kitchen counter, reaching the top with a triumphant, "oomph," and resting her elbows on the countertop. "T'anks Uncle Joey."

"My pleasure, darlin'."

Joey didn't even realize that he'd adopted a speech pattern similar to Jesse's until Michelle said, "You sound jus' like Uncle Jesse."

"Is that for your act?" Stephanie asked as she went about placing the various foodstuffs into the picnic basket.

Joey blinked. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, and jumped when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. His heart pounded in his chest, and, had it not been for identical, joy-filled exclamations of, "Uncle Jesse!" Joey might very well have fainted.

Not that he had a weak constitution, but he'd really been given a fright. He hadn't been expecting either Jesse or Danny to be home so soon. Once he'd regained his composure, Joey turned around and plastered a smile on his face.

"What's going on here?" Jesse asked, his trademark smile and dimples firmly in place.

"We're having a picnic, Uncle Jesse. Want to join us?" Stephanie asked.

"Sure thing, little mama," Jesse said with a wink. His hand was still resting on Joey's shoulder – the weight of it welcome and warm.

"Help me carry the basket?" Stephanie held the basket out to Uncle Jesse.

He crouched down until he was eye-level with Stephanie and shook his head. "Tell you what, why don't you and Michelle, here, carry the basket out into the living room, okay? Your Uncle Joey and I will be there in a minute."

"Okay, Uncle Jesse," Stephanie said. She kissed him on the cheek and then motioned, with her head, for Michelle to help her lug the basket into the living room.

"Bye, bye." Michelle turned to wave when she and Stephanie reached the kitchen doorway. She blew a kiss to both men and then followed Stephanie into the living room.

"So, a picnic?" Jesse asked with a raised brow. He stood to his full height, cracking his back and wincing.

"Yeah, the girls wanted to, and . . ." shrugging, Joey trailed off, and gave Jesse a lopsided grin.

"And, you caved," Jesse said, knowingly.

Joey nodded sheepishly, and Jesse laughed. He closed the gap between them, placed his hand on Joey's lower back. Confirming, with a quick glance toward the living room that the girls were busy setting the picnic up, he leaned in close and brushed his lips over Joey's. It was quick and chaste, but it sent an electric jolt through Joey, and both men shivered.

"Uncle Joey, Uncle Jesse!" the girls called from the living room.

Jesse rested his forehead against Joey's and after a deep breath, he smiled, and whispered, "We'll pick up where we left off, later tonight. Okay?"

Joey nodded, and smiled, already anticipating the evening ahead – after Danny got home from work, and the girls were in bed, and it was just him and Jesse.

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Reviews would be greatly appreciated.


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